UTK Off The Rails
2022 Gift Guide
Off The Rails is when something is outside the scope of a normal UTK, even a special or short. To some, it’s a signal to merely ignore it if all you want is the sports stuff. To others, you might find it interesting. It’s good to go off the rails and outside the comfort zone now and again.
I did a gift guide last year and it got surprisingly good notice. Let’s see if my suggestions this year connect as well. There’s no affiliate links here, though I probably ought to.
I bought an Aerogarden - the “Sprout”, their smallest - on a whim. Amazon had it as a flash sale and I’d been debating having fresh herbs somehow so thought why not? It came with a starter kit for under 50 bucks and there it was. I set it up and in less than a week, the basil was growing up out of the … well, not ground. The plants grow out of water and towards an LED light. By two weeks, the basil was making me extend the light upwards. The parsley wasn’t quite as hearty, but the basil was going full Jack and the Beanstalk. For over a month, I had fresh basil, fresh parsley, and I’m currently growing some rosemary, chives, and taking a stab at mint. Fresh mojitos, anyone? What surprised me is how the simple device quickly became a nice distraction. I’d watch how much things grew. I’d fill it with water daily, and food when it needed it (about once a week, signaled by the device.) I enjoyed growing things, for the first time in my life. You might too.
Magazines are mostly dead and podcasts are heading that way, but what if they weren’t? What if there was a smart, worldly magazine that had great writers, fun personalities, and a worldview that matched yours? There is and it’s called Monocle. I happened across it in an airport a couple years back and while the magazine is good and worth every penny of a subscription - go digital, while the print is nice, it takes forever to get across the Atlantic - and it supports their peerless podcasts. Andrew Mueller, Emma Nelson, and Aliona Hlivco have become some of my primary news sources over the last couple years. Monocle did more on the ground reporting in Ukraine than anyone. They’re very Euro, but Monocle might be the last great magazine.
I’m not a marathon runner. I don’t climb. I haven’t regularly scuba dived in years. Those are how Apple showed off the Apple Watch Ultra, but it’s still the best Apple Watch. I grew frustrated with two things - battery life and data context - with my long term Apple Watch 4. I upgraded for the battery of the Ultra and was willing to trade off the size. It’s more expensive, but the better battery, better screen, and better interface, even over newer Apple Watches is worth it to me. That I could run, climb or dive is nice, but when it runs for three days between charges, I’m happy.
There’s a million ways to make coffee, but it all comes down to the beans. Use better beans and you’ll get better coffee. I mentioned Bottomless last year - it’s still great, still magic - but no matter how you make it, you have to grind it. For years, I’ve used a Barratza, but the Fellow Ode is just better. It’s quieter, easier to clean, more consistent, and better looking to boot. Set it next to your brewer of choice and make it part of your ritual, getting rid of that loud shock of beans hitting the burrs for something a bit more calming before the caffeine hits.
The Eight Sleep probably did more to change my sleep than anything, ever. By doing that, it may have changed my life and health more than any one thing, ever. I had sleep data from multiple sources, but the Eight does more than just collect data. It uses it to help you sleep. The temperature control is insane and the autopilot helps you dial it in, checking your sleep quality for guidance. It’s quiet, low maintenance, and run from an app, of course. Pro athletes swear by Eights and so do I. Expensive? Yes, but break it down by how much you sleep - I sleep more because of the Eight than I did, so it’s made that time even more valuable to me. (The link here is a referral link that will get you a discount if you buy one.)
Here’s a cheap one for you. Cheesecloth is like 10 bucks on Amazon and I’m sure you could find it locally as well. It has a ton of uses but here’s why I got some. I watched Drink Masters on Netflix - basically Top Chef for bartenders - and in several of the recipes, they did something called fat washing. Put a fatty flavorful something - bacon, coconut, some other exotic stuff - into a liquor and let it infuse. Then freeze it and the fat comes off the top. Run it through a filter a couple times, then make a drink. If you don’t think a Bacon Old Fashioned is a thing, it is indeed a thing. I used a coffee filter the first time and it works, but cheesecloth levels it up, plus it’s washable.
Have something you’d like to suggest to the readers? Drop it in the comments!